A fling (can't think of a title)
by AmYzA
Summary: Sequel to What If? That's all I can say
1. Chapter 1

A Fling - Does It Mean A Thing?  
  
Disclaimer: Slam Dunk belongs to Inoue Takehiko, the 'crazy' and informative Dr. T. It doesn't belong to me at all.  
Summary: Rukawa broke up with Hana because he didn't want her to be a distraction to his Japan Youth Camp. Set after Akagi, Mitsui and Kogure went to take their entrance exams, Miyagi became captain, and Rukawa's going to leave.  
A/n: Expect OOC  
  
Chapter 1  
It's a typical day out for Hana and Kaede. They usually walked along the path towards the Shohoku basketball court, talking to each other,smiling, teasing and laughing(in Hana's case). Kaede tried to act normal, he really did, he smiled at Hana's jokes, he chuckled, he teased. But there's something inside him that yearned him to tell.   
  
'Should I tell her about my plans? Should I?' he thought. Seeing Hana's cheery face, he almost didn't want to say it out loud.  
  
"Hana-chan, you know that I'm going to the Youth Camp next week, ne?" he asked monotonely.  
  
"I know, and I'm going to write you letters everyday!" Hana answered him, a little bit of sadness can be heard in her words. "Doesn't matter if we love each other, ne?"  
  
"Hai," Kaede replied. "But..."  
  
"But what, Kaede-chan?" asked Hana again.  
  
"Let's break up!" Kaede said suddenly.  
  
"Nani?" Hana half shouted.   
  
"Let's break up," Kaede repeated.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I think you are a distraction to me, that's why," Kaede answered.  
  
Tears are brimming at Hana's eyes. But she wouldn't let the tears fall for the kitsune. Instead of crying and protesting, she answered, "Fine, if that's the way you want our relationship to end. I thank you for all the happy memories that you've given me,"   
  
"Rukawa..." she said coldly.  
  
"?"   
  
"Tell Ryocchin I'm sick," she replied before heading back home.  
******  
Home... or more precisely Hana's room...  
Another glass cracked, that means, another photo frame being thrown across the room. Neither Ryuen, Keisuke nor her parents are home, and so, didn't know what she's doing.   
  
"I hate you so much Rukawa Kaede!" she whispered. The tune, 'I Hate You So Much Right Now' filled the room.   
  
Somebody opened the door, Hana could hear it.  
  
"Go away! I want to be alone!" she shouted.  
  
"Hana-chan, what happened?" asked the voice, which, Hana guessed, is Ryuen. "Why's all these photographs of you and Kaede on the floor? You could hurt yourself, you know, these are glass,"  
  
"What does it look like, Ryuen-nii-chan?" she sobbed.   
  
Ryuen opened his arms, and Hana ran into it, and sobbed at her brother's shoulders.   
  
"I couldn't believe he did it to me, nii-chan, what did I do to distract him?" asked Hana.  
  
"Hana, it's okay. It's just a guy, Hana.."  
  
"But I love him, nii-chan,"  
  
"Why bother loving him if he doesn't love you back, Hana?"  
  
"He loves me in return,"  
  
"Then, why'd he dump you at the first place?"  
  
Hana thought for a moment, and dried her eyes.  
  
"You are right, I'm supposed to forget this kitsune, and get on with my life!" Hana lied, making her sound a little bit energetic to fool her brother.  
  
Ryuen pretended that he was fooled. He knew his little sister too well, she may act as if she's going to forget Rukawa, but he knew, it's hard for her to do so.  
*****  
Night - dinner...  
Even after she talked to Ryuen. Hana still felt uneasy.   
  
"How was the basketball practice with Kaede-chan just now, Hana-chan?" asked Mrs. Sakuragi.  
  
"Umm, it's the usual," Hana stammered.  
  
Mrs. Sakuragi watched her daughter play with her food rather than eating it. 'Her mind seemed to be somewhere else,' she thought.  
  
Her plate is still full of food when Hana got up. "Can I be excused?" she asked.  
  
All four of the Sakuragi family watched her got up, Hana *never* leave dinner without finishing hers first.   
  
"You may," Mr. Sakuragi answered.  
*****  
After Hana left...  
"There's something wrong with that girl," Mrs. Sakuragi started.  
  
"I agree, dear, I agree," Mr. Sakuragi replied.  
  
"She didn't even show up for the basketball practice," Keisuke confirmed.  
  
"Nani? How'd you know?" asked Mrs. Sakuragi.  
  
"I came to watch their practice with Taka today, the atmosphere of the gym is different without Hana inside it. Even Rukawa looked as if he didn't have the mood to play," Keisuke answered.  
  
"She broke up with him," Ryuen told them all.  
  
"Nani????" All three of them asked.  
  
End of chapter 1 - pls read and review  
  
I do hope you guys like this chapter. I was crying myself when I wrote the breaking up part. I seemed to be a little bit angsty these days. 


	2. Chapter 2

A Fling - Does It Mean A Thing?  
  
Disclaimer: Slam Dunk belongs to Inoue Takehiko. It doesn't belong to me at all, except probably the three Sakuragi siblings.  
Summary: Rukawa broke up with Hana because he didn't want her to be a distraction to his Japan Youth Camp. Set after Akagi, Mitsui and Kogure went to take their entrance exams, Miyagi became captain, and Rukawa's going to leave.  
A/n: Expect OOC  
  
Chapter 2  
"And how did you know that, Aniki?" asked Keisuke.  
  
"What did you hear from my room when I was dumped by my long-time girlfriend?" Ryuen asked instead.  
  
"Umm, the sound of glass cracking?" Keisuke guessed.   
  
"Exactly, that's what I've heard!" Ryuen answered. "And glass cracking usually means that, the photo frame is thrown, either to the bin or to the floor,"  
  
"I am grateful, though, that Hana didn't headbutt the floor," said Mrs. Sakuragi.  
  
A few minutes after that, a headbutt could be heard from the 2nd floor.  
  
"She just did, mamma," Ryuen replied.  
  
The four other Sakuragi sighed. Hana's still so sad, but she just refused to show it to everybody. That girl tend to bottle up her feelings more often, rather than shouting out loud.  
  
"And Rukawa's her first love," Mrs. Sakuragi said romantically.  
  
"Dear, have you forgotten Hana's first boyfriend, now, what's the boy's name again?" asked Mr. Sakuragi. "Isn't he supposed to be her first love?"  
  
"That's crush, dear, not love, and Hana's not even *this* sad about it,"   
  
"We'll just see how she's doing at school, things like this could make her grades nose-dive," Mr. Sakuragi said after a few minutes of silence.  
  
"hai,"   
*****  
Next morning...  
"Eh? That fox-eyed boy should be here by now," said Takamiya to the others.  
  
They stopped cycling in front of Hana's house. Even though Hana's going out with Rukawa, the guntais always trailed on behind them.  
  
"I know, I wonder," Yohei replied.  
  
As usual, they walked towards the house, leaving their bike near the gate. Yohei proceeded to knock the door.  
  
"Ohayo! Yohei, Takamiya, Noma, Yuji!" greeted Mrs. Sakuragi. "C'mon in and have breakfast with us!"  
  
"Thanks, but no thanks, Mrs. Sakuragi, all of us had eaten already," Yohei said.   
  
"Don't tell me Takamiya's on a diet again. Takamiya, you doesn't look as if you've lost a pound," Mrs. Sakuragi replied.  
  
"No need mom! I finished eating already!" Hana shouted.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
Hana ran towards the front door, gave her mother a peck at the cheek, and grabbed her bicycle near Keisuke's car.  
  
"I'm going to school, mom! See you after the basketball practice!"  
  
The Guntai watched confusingly as Hana cycled in front of them, and not once, drifting off to sleep.  
  
"Hana, where's Rukawa?" asked Yohei.  
  
"He wanted to be early to school today," Hana lied. They are approaching Shohoku, she didn't want anyone to know that Rukawa dumped her, yet.  
  
Yohei could see through the lie from her facial expression, but he didn't want to push the subject about it, yet. Hana could tell him everything in her own time.  
*****  
In Kaede and Hana's class...  
"Okay, get your pen out, today, I'm going to test you on the transport system in mammals," said their biology sensei.  
  
"Nani? Sensei, isn't the test next week?" asked Hana.  
  
"Sakuragi Hana, shame on you, the test it today," answered the biology sensei.  
  
"But I haven't studied!" Hana said morosely.  
  
"Well, it's your fault,"   
  
Hana could only answer some of the questions in the test. She knew she's gonna flunk for sure. An hour later...  
  
"Okay, pass your papers to the person in front of you,"   
  
Kaede passed the papers to Hana, who took it and glared at him.   
  
'She's giving me the cold shoulder treatment,' Kaede thought. 'Are you angry that we broke up, Hana?'  
****  
Meanwhile, in Haruko's class...  
The English teacher, Naoko-sensei hasn't entered the class yet. The boys and girls took this opportunity to gossip around.  
  
"I heard that Rukawa and Sakuragi broke up!" shouted a girl.  
  
"Nani? Are you sure?"  
  
"Hai!"  
  
"Where did you heard this?" asked Haruko. "It's impossible!"  
  
"It is, Haruko-chan," said Fuji. "I saw Rukawa cycling alone this morning,"  
  
"Couldn't be! They are Shohoku's cutest couple! They couldn't have broken up!" Haruko outraged. "Maybe they are just fighting!"  
  
Nonetheless, the boys who have had a crush on Hana, started writing out their loveletters. The members of Rukawa Shinetai/Hana Haters, started writing out their loveletters as well.  
*****  
Kaede and Hana's class...  
The biology sensei left the class, and they've been informed that their Maths sensei is sick.  
Kaede took this opportunity to sleep at the roof. Hana was busy sorting out her file when she saw him walk out of the class.  
  
Yohei took this opportunity to talk to Hana.  
  
"Hana-chan..." he greeted.  
  
"What is it, Yohei?" she asked.  
  
"What's going on?" Yohei asked his best friend.  
  
"I'll explain it to you at the roof," she mouthed. Yohei nodded. Both of them left the class.  
*****  
At the roof...  
Kaede's sleeping. He didn't hear the door being opened. But he could distinctly hear the words being spoken.  
  
"So, what's going on?"  
  
"Everything's fine, Yohei, there's nothing wrong," Hana lied.  
  
"I know there's something wrong, Hana, don't act as if I haven't known you for 13 years,"  
  
"Okay, the kitsune and I broke up,"  
  
"NANI????????"   
  
"Yes, the kitsune and I broke up," Hana repeated.  
  
Yohei shook his head, He couldn't believe it.  
  
"Nope, you are joking, right?"  
  
"Who said I'm joking, Yohei, it's the truth!"  
  
"So, watcha gonna do about it?"  
  
"Well, part of me want to go the beach and commit suicide, another part of me asked me to move on, forget Rukawa and meet some other guy better than him,"  
  
"If you ever ask for my suggestion, go for the second one, there's lots of cute guys out there who wants you, and probably will love you, if you give them the chance,"  
  
"Like who?"  
  
"Sendoh Akira,"  
  
Kaede jerked awake when he heard the name of his rival.   
  
"Yohei, how many times had I told you, Akira and I are friends, just like you and me," Hana explained.   
  
"The boys of Shohoku High school,"  
  
"Yeah right, you mean the idiots who just couldn't stop sending me those little cards to my locker? Please!"  
  
"Hana-chan," said somebody.  
  
Hana whirled to see Haruko, her eyes widened, and her jaw dropped.  
  
"Haruko-chan,"  
  
"So it is true, then?"  
  
"True?"  
  
"About you and Rukawa-kun breaking up,"  
  
"Yeah,"  
  
"You must win his heart one more time,"  
  
"I have my pride, Haruko-chan," Hana answered. "The sensei should be there by now, let's go, Yohei,"  
  
Yohei and Haruko gave each other flirty smile before the former went to catch up with Hana. Haruko walked out from the rooftop, her heart felt heavy. She didn't mean to eavesdrop at Hana's and Yohei's conversation, she wanted to ask Hana if the rumours are true, and so, followed Hana and Yohei to the rooftop.  
  
'I must do something to get them back together!' she thought.  
  
End of chapter 2 - pls read and review. 


	3. chapter 3

A Fling - Does It Mean A Thing?  
  
Disclaimer: Slam Dunk belongs to Inoue Takehiko. It doesn't belong to me at all, except probably the three Sakuragi siblings.  
Summary: Rukawa broke up with Hana because he didn't want her to be a distraction to his Japan Youth Camp. Set after Akagi, Mitsui and Kogure went to take their entrance exams, Miyagi became captain, and Rukawa's going to leave.  
A/n: Expect OOC  
  
Chapter 3 - two weeks after the split...  
Hana did fail the biology test. Worst of all, she not only failed the biology topical test, she had also failed her best subject, Chemistry.  
  
"Nani? How can I fail chemistry?" she asked herself. "Papa will be so angry,"  
  
At the Sakuragi household...  
Dinner...  
  
"Hana-chan, I was called by your chemistry sensei that you had failed your chemistry test, I was also called by your biology sensei that you had failed your biology test, and also called by your English sensei saying that you had not completed five pieces of homeworks, and called by your maths teacher stating that you slept in class, didn't do three pieces of homeworks, and didn't attend the advanced trigonometry class that you are supposed to attend," Mr. SAkuragi stated.  
  
"Papa, I didn't study for those tests, and I forgot the homeworks, and I forgot about the class," Hana explained.  
  
"But Hana, you never forget your homeworks!" Ryuen said worriedly. "You always write them out in your planner and in your list,"  
  
"Hana, don't forget about your studies, Rukawa dumped you already!" Keisuke said.  
  
"Kei-nii-chan, this has nothing to do with Rukawa! I'm not sad that he dumped me!" Hana outraged. She stood up and left the dining room.  
  
"Aniki, you shouldn't have said that," Ryuen said and stood up. "I'm going to see her,"  
  
Mr. Sakuragi nodded. The only person who can talk senses to that girl is Ryuen.  
  
"Maybe we should let her go away from Kanagawa for a while, to forget Rukawa," Mrs. Sakuragi suggested.  
  
"I think that way too," Mr. Sakuragi answered.  
*******  
In Hana's room...  
Hana's sobbing at her bed.   
  
'Maybe kei-nii-chan's right, I just couldn't forget Rukawa!' she thought.  
  
"Hana! Open the door..."   
  
"Ryuen-nii-chan..." Hana answered, and proceeded to let her brother in.  
  
"Hana, don't be sad!"   
  
"It's been two weeks, Ryuen-nii-chan, I just couldn't forget him!" Hana sobbed.  
  
"How can you forget when he's right behind you everyday, and play with him everyday?"  
  
"Hai,"  
  
"I think you need to change the scene, Hana, go somewhere else, forget Rukawa..."  
  
"I think that way too, Hana,"   
  
"Papa!"   
  
"Maybe you should join Ryuen in the States,"  
  
"What about basketball? The team needs me,"  
  
"We could sort that out, just spend one and a half months there Hana,"  
  
"The winter championship is starting during the first week at winter,"  
  
"Then you return here before winter, is that fine with you? Besides, it will help you to forget Rukawa,"  
  
"Okay..."  
  
Both Mr. Sakuragi and Ryuen felt relieved when Hana decided to accept the compromise.  
*******  
Mr. and Mrs. Sakuragi talked about Hana before they retire to bed.  
  
"She accepted my offer,"  
  
"What offer?"  
  
"Well, I asked her if she wants to go to the States and study over there,"  
  
"Nani?"  
  
"She said okay, don't worry, Ryuen will take care of her over there,"  
  
"I suppose you are right,"  
******  
The next day...  
  
"Ohayo, Hana!" greeted everyone when she went down to eat breakfast.  
  
"Ohayo. Papa, had you?"  
  
"Which school are you going to enroll her in, papa?" asked Ryuen.  
  
"I'm thinking of the school that you used to go to before entering university, Kennedy High's the name, isn't it?"  
  
"Kennedy... they've got two excellent basketball teams, and it's not that far from my apartment, what bout you, Hana?"  
  
"Just pick whichever school you think suited me," she answered sleepily.  
  
"Hana, did you sleep last night?" asked Keisuke.  
  
"Of course I'm asleep last night, Kei-nii-chan,"  
  
"I don't think you could cycle this way, let me drive you to school," Keisuke insisted.  
  
"Let me accompany you too," Ryuen said.  
  
"Whatever!" Hana muttered.  
******  
And so, Hana was driven to school by her brothers, with her sleeping at the backseat of Keisuke's sports car.  
  
"We'll pick you up at five, okay?"  
  
"Fine... fine..."  
  
"Ohayo Hana-chan!" greeted Haruko. "Ohayo, Keisuke-kun, Ryuen-kun,"  
  
"Ohayo, Haruko. Haruko, get Hana to class before she fall down,"  
  
"Ah, hai!" Haruko answered and helped Hana walk to class, she's still sleepy.  
  
"What did you do last night, Hana-chan?" asked Haruko. "You seemed, sleepy..."  
  
"Hmm, I'm studying... for my retests..." Hana answered sleepily. "I failed two subjects, Haruko-chan,"  
  
"Nani? How can you fail two subjects? You are one of the top scorers at school, Hana-chan," Haruko worryingly replied.  
  
"I didn't study at all, Haruko-chan," she answered.  
  
Haruko thought, 'I must scold Rukawa-kun about this, didn't he see that he's torturing Hana-chan?'  
  
Basketball practice...  
"Okay, 2nd and 3rd years in team A, 1st years in team B," Miyagi commanded. "Where's Hana?"  
  
"Don't ask us," said the guntais.  
  
Miyagi didn't bother asking Rukawa, its 2 weeks since they've broken up, and the whole school pretty much knew about it already.   
  
"She'll be here, Miyagi-kun, I know she will," Haruko said.   
  
"You sure, Haruko?"  
  
"Hai!"  
  
A half hour later, a curly haired girl came in the practice.  
  
"Sorry, I'm late, Ryocchin, I decided to go for a make-over for a while," the redhead said.  
  
Instead of looking at her normally, the boys gasped.   
  
"Hana? What in the hell happened to your hair????" asked Miyagi.  
  
"I just used a curling wand to curl it, I'm bored of the straight look," Hana explained.  
  
"That's why you are late?"  
  
"More or less,"  
  
"Nice hair, Hana-chan!" said Ayako.   
  
Kaede watched her with a little bit of jealousy. 'She seemed to be able to get over me easily,'  
  
"Okay, I repeat, 3rd years and 2nd years in team A, 1st years in team B,"  
  
Everybody noticed that, in the match, Hana didn't pass the ball to Rukawa at all, even if he's not guarded.  
  
"Hana, can you please stop it?" asked Ayako.  
  
"You mean, not passing to the kitsune?" Hana asked back. "Don't worry, in the real game, I'm not going to do that,"  
  
"You look nice with those curls, Hana-chan, made your hair goes in ringlets," Haruko complimented.  
  
"Thank you, Haruko-chan,"  
  
'She looks healed, but at the same time, looks not healed,' Ayako thought.  
****  
Home  
"Tadaima!" Hana shouted.  
  
"Welcome home," Keisuke replied. "How's school? And what happened to your hair?"  
  
"School sucks, and I went home for a while just now to curl my hair, making me fashionably late for practice," Hana answered.  
  
"Papa's in the library, arranging your leave,"  
  
"Okay!"  
*****  
Library  
"Enter," said Mr. Sakuragi when Hana knocked the library door.  
  
"Hana, how's school?"  
  
"Boring, have you arranged my leave?"  
  
"Yes, this is the letter for your principal, regarding your transfer for a month, this is for Anzai-sensei, and this is for your form teacher,"  
  
"When will I leave?"  
  
End of chapter 3 - please read and review. 


	4. chapter 4

A Fling - Does It Mean A Thing?  
  
Disclaimer: Slam Dunk belongs to Inoue Takehiko. It doesn't belong to me at all, except probably the three Sakuragi siblings.  
Summary: Rukawa broke up with Hana because he didn't want her to be a distraction to his Japan Youth Camp. Set after Akagi, Mitsui and Kogure went to take their entrance exams, Miyagi became captain, and Rukawa's going to leave.  
A/n: Expect OOC  
  
Chapter 4  
"Hmm, probably in four days' time," answered Mr. Sakuragi.  
******  
School...  
  
Mr. Sakuragi faxed the letter to the principal, and Hana's form teacher, telling them that Hana will be away from school for a month and a half.  
  
Anzai-sensei, meanwhile, received the letter from Hana herself.  
****  
"Sakuragi, are you sure about this?" asked Anzai-sensei.  
  
"Well, oyaji, it's not actually my decision, but I'll be back after two months," Hana answered.  
  
"You are fluent in English, ne?"  
  
"Of course I do, Oyaji," Hana answered in English. "Half my blood are gaijin blood,"  
  
"I know that," Anzai sensei answered and smiled at Hana.  
  
"Hana, you are leaving?" asked Ryota sadly.  
  
"Don't worry Ryocchin, I'll be back in two months," Hana answered.  
  
"Anything to do with him?" asked Ryota quietly, watching the silent ravenhead.  
  
"Partly, don't tell anyone though," Hana answered quietly.  
  
"I'll email you when I get the chance, Hana-chan!" Haruko said excitedly, and yet, sadly.  
  
"Sure sure, Haruko-chan,"  
  
"Where are you going to stay over at the States?" asked Ayako.  
  
"At my brother, Ryuen's apartment,"  
***  
Keisuke, and Ryuen, and quite coincidently, Akagi, Kogure and Mitsui happened to meet each other when all of them headed towards the gym.  
  
"Konnichiwa," Keisuke cheerfully greeted.  
  
"Sakuragi's brothers?" asked Akagi.   
  
"Yup, both of us are, how'd you guess?" asked Ryuen.  
  
"Your red hair, it's so similar to Sakuragi's," Kogure answered. "What are both of you doing here?"  
  
"We want to watch Hana's last practice match with Shohoku,"  
  
"Nandato?" Akagi thundered.   
  
"What do you mean by last match?" Kogure asked curiously.  
  
"We'll explain later," Keisuke answered.  
*****  
At the gym  
The first thing that Keisuke did, was try to chat up Ayako.  
  
"Hi Ayako," Keisuke greeted brightly.  
  
"Hi Keisuke-kun, what are you doing here?" Ayako replied.  
  
"Just wanna watch Hana's last practice match," Keisuke answered.   
  
"Kei-nii-chan! Ryuen-nii-chan!" Hana squealed happily and proceeded to hug her two taller brothers.  
  
"Hana-chan, we want to watch your last practice match with Shohoku," Ryuen said.  
  
"Sakuragi, is it true that you are leaving?" asked Akagi.  
  
Hana nodded. "But don't worry Gori, the tensai will be back in two months time!" Hana boasted and laughed her insane laugh.  
  
Akagi felt an urge to punch her at the head, and Ayako had an urge to hit her with the fan, but both of them stopped due to the presence of Hana's brothers.  
  
"Oh yeah, Ayako-sempai, you know my brother, Keisuke already, right?" Hana asked.  
  
Ayako nodded.  
  
"And this is Sakuragi Ryuen, my other brother, twin of Kei-nii-chan," Hana introduced. "Ryuen-nii-chan, this is Ayako,"  
  
"Boku Wa Sakuragi Ryuen, yoroshiku," Ryuen introduced himself.  
  
Ayako thought, 'They are twins, but yet, Ryuen is so different that Keisuke. Keisuke tried to chat me up, but he didn't, maybe he's gay,'   
  
"Do you play basketball too, Ryuen-kun?" asked Ayako.   
  
"I do, I'm in the university's basketball team in the States," Ryuen answered.  
  
They watched the match, Hana had succeeded in stealing the ball from Miyagi, making the lightning quick captain gasp.   
  
"If I could steal from Fujima, doesn't mean I couldn't steal from you, Ryocchin," Hana boasted, dribbling the ball towards the 1st years offence area, and then, she scored a three pointer.  
  
"Sakuragi! Go! Go! Sakuragi!" chanted the Sakuragi cheerleaders, comprising of some of the boys who have a crush of Hana.  
  
"Too bad she's leaving," Ayako said sadly.  
  
"C'mon, she'll be back in two months time, just in time for the Winter Championship," Keisuke replied.  
  
"Nani? She is?" asked Ayako.  
  
"She didn't tell you all that she'll be back for the championship?" asked Ryuen curiously.  
  
"That means she 'forgot' about it then," Ayako muttered. "She did tell that she'll be away for two months though,"  
  
Ayako made some calculations in her head, and said, "I guess she'll be back, the winter championship is roughly two - three months away. But I'm sure the team will miss her very much,"  
  
"Ayako, why are Sakuragi and Rukawa seemed like, last time?" asked Kogure. "They seemed to be rivals one more time,"  
  
"Didn't Haruko tell both of you?" asked Ayako. "Both of you should have heard it, it's all over the school,"  
  
"Heard what?" asked Akagi.  
  
"They broke up," Ayako said.  
  
"Nani? Can you repeat that again, Ayako?" asked Kogure.  
  
"Sakuragi and Rukawa broke up,"  
  
"Well, I heard that rumour, but I didn't believe it," Akagi answered.  
  
"And I heard it as well, from Mitsui, but I thought Mitsui's joking," Kogure said.   
  
"You should believe in me, Kogure," Mitsui said. "I'm always with the team,"  
  
"Okay okay, you are right," Kogure sighed.  
*****  
Four days later,  
Kanagawa Airport  
  
"I'll miss all of you sooo much! Thank you for sending me off!" Hana said to the teammates that came, and to her guntai.  
  
"Same here, Hana," Miyagi answered. The absence of Rukawa was noticeable, Rukawa deliberately didn't come.   
  
"Don't stop playing basketball over at the States, Hana-chan!" Haruko squealed, although inside, she felt sad that Hana's going away, 'Oh, how can I make them be together again?' she thought.  
  
"I won't, Haruko-chan, here's my email address," she said to Haruko. Haruko took out a pen, and jott down, 'HanaTheTensai@yahoo.com' and S_Hana10@hotmail.com' and Hana jott down Haruko's, 'Akagi_Haruko@hotmail.com' and Akagi_Haruko@yahoo.com  
  
"Eh, you have hotmail, maybe we could chat using MSN, or Yahoo! Messenger if you have it, Haruko-chan," Hana said, after that.  
  
"Sure, Hana-chan," Haruko answered.  
  
"I'll miss you, Mama, Papa, Kei-nii-chan!" Hana said, hugging all her family members.  
  
"Take care of Hana, Ryuen," Mrs. Sakuragi sobbed. Her little girl is going away.  
  
"I certainly will miss your loudness," Keisuke joked.  
  
"Kei-nii-chan!"  
  
"Don't get into trouble, Hana, we won't be there to protect you," Yohei said on behalf of the other gundams, who's deep in tears. Hana nodded.  
  
"Okay, Hana, let's go inside," Ryuen said. Hana nodded. They were just about to enter customs when somebody shouted, 'HANA!'  
  
For a split second, Hana thought Kaede had come to stop her leaving, but as she turned around, it's her two other 'adopted' nii-chans, Hanagata and Fujima.  
  
"Kenji-nii-chan! Toru-nii-chan! Both of you came!" Hana shouted, making other people glare at her.  
  
"Of course we came, we want to send you off as well," Fujima said. "Good luck in the States,"  
  
"And don't stop playing basketball!" Hanagata replied.  
  
"I won't stop playing, and I will play basketball over there,"  
  
And Fujima whispered, "And find a guy worth forgetting Rukawa for,"  
  
"Kenji-nii-chan!"  
  
Fujima laughed, "I'm just joking, Hana,"  
  
The boarding call came and Ryuen and Hana entered customs. Just after they entered customs, Sendoh came.  
  
"Am I too late?" asked Sendoh.  
  
"She entered customs already," Keisuke answered. "You could still wave at her from the waving area, though,"  
  
Sendoh dashed towards the waving area. He made it just in time, but Hana's not looking at the waving area. The guy next to Hana looked at him, and nudged Hana. Hana turned, Sendoh could see the twinkling in her eyes. She waved at him, he waved back. Although a bit reluctant to go, he waved one last wave, signalling that he have practice to Hana. Hana nodded, and Sendoh went away.  
  
'Strange,' Sendoh thought. 'Rukawa's missing from the Shohoku gang, maybe I should ask Hikoichi to check,'  
*****  
Shohoku high basketball practice - the next day...  
"Yesterday Sendoh actually went to see Hana off," Miyagi loudly said, wanting to attract the attention of the silent ravenhead. No response.  
  
"And even though he's a bit late, and missed Hana, he actually went to the waving area to wave goodbye at her," Mitsui loudly continued. And again, no response.  
  
'Does this guy has a heart of ice?' Mitsui thought. 'He should be jealous that Sendoh actually went to see Hana,'  
  
Practice continued as usual, with both Miyagi and Mitsui 'accidentally' mentioning Hana's name now and again.  
*****  
New York, USA  
In the plane...  
"Where exactly in New York do you live, Ryu-nii-chan?" asked Hana.  
  
"Upper East Side, just a few blocks away from Kennedy High, the school where Dad put you in," Ryuen answered.  
  
"Who do you live with?"  
  
"Hmm, a Japanese, my college mate. Dad bought me that apartment, and the dormitory were full when this guy asked me if I want a housemate, and I rent out a room for him," Ryuen answered.  
  
"Oh,"   
  
Just as they are about to land at the airport, Hana thought, 'A new beginning of my life, even if it is just a short one,'  
  
End of Chapter 4, please read and review.  
  
A/n: From Chapter 5 onwards, I'll be jumping back and forth from Hana's life at US, and Kaede at Japan. 


	5. chapter 5

A Fling - Does It Mean A Thing?  
  
Disclaimer: Slam Dunk belongs to Inoue Takehiko. It doesn't belong to me at all, except probably the three Sakuragi siblings.  
Summary: Rukawa broke up with Hana because he didn't want her to be a distraction to his Japan Youth Camp. Set after Akagi, Mitsui and Kogure went to take their entrance exams, Miyagi became captain, and Rukawa's going to leave.  
A/n: Expect OOC  
  
Chapter 5  
It's only two days since Hana moved to the US. She hasn't met her brother's housemate yet, apparently, he's still in Japan.  
  
Mr. Sakuragi had faxed to the administration of Kennedy High for the move, and all Hana has to do is go there and register herself.  
  
"Here's your uniform at Kennedy, it just arrived," Ryuen informed, tossing Hana a package containing a school uniform and gym clothes.  
  
"knee-length skirt, a tie, long sleeved shirt, and a sort of suit, the colour's okay, though," Hana said while opening the parcel, and taking out her uniform.   
*****  
School...  
Hana went into the administration, and registered herself, according to the people there, she's a sophomore.  
  
"Thank you," Hana said in English. She then proceeded to her first class, which happened to be, English.  
  
She walked straight towards the English class.  
  
"Come in," the English teacher instructed, after Hana knocked on the door.  
  
"Excuse me, miss, I'm the new student,"  
  
"So, introduce yourself,"  
  
"Hello, I'm Hana Sakuragi, I'm the new exchange student from Japan," Hana started.  
  
"You don't look Japanese," said somebody at the back.  
  
"Mr. Adam! And, Ms. Sakuragi, you could sit at the window seat over there, that's the only empty seat, and I'm Ms. Cooper, Fiona Cooper,"  
  
Hana went to sit next to a girl who looks bored, and a little bit Japanese. The small eyes, the dark hair and the porcelain skin made her look like a Japanese, or asian.  
  
"Hi, you are Japanese?" the girl asked.  
  
"Yes, I am,"  
  
"I'm Japanese-American. Both my parents are pure Japanese, raised in the States, my name's Vivian Kishi," Vivian introduced herself. "I'm raised here as well, by the way, you don't look Japanese,"  
  
Hana smiled and explained, "Both my parents aren't pure Japanese,"   
  
Vivian formed an 'O' with her mouth and said, "That explains it,"  
  
"Explains what?" Hana asked.  
  
"Your hair and your height, I'm R. Len Xiao Tian Adam," said the guy with the purple hair. "That's why I said that just now,"  
  
"You don't look Japanese either, Mr. Adam," Hana answered mockingly. Hana turned towards him, and a small shock passed through her, this guy looks JUST like Rukawa! Except, of course, the purple hair, which is spiky in style, a little bit like Sendoh's hair, but not as tall as Sendoh's spike.  
  
Vivian passed a note to Hana, saying, 'I can't believe LEN *talked* to you,'  
  
Hana replied, 'Why?'  
  
Vivian answered, 'He's like, the hottest guy at school, he's the basketball star, ya know,'  
  
Hana stay silent for a moment, not only does this Len guy look just like Rukawa, he's a basketball star as well, just like Rukawa!  
  
At the chime of the bell, signalling the end of the lesson, all the students stand up to leave the class, Hana looked at her timetable again, and it said, 'gym'.  
  
"Vivian, is it okay if I call you Vivian?" Hana asked curiously.  
  
"Of course, we are not in Japan, Hana, here, it's okay to call somebody by his or her first name, unlike in Japan," Vivian answered, a little bit laughingly. "You have gym after this as well? Cool, I have gym as well,"  
  
Hana and her newly found friend went to the gym together.  
*****  
"You are the new exchange student, eh?" asked the Coach. Hana nodded. Hana had to see the coach in her office first.  
  
"I'm Coach Anderson,"  
  
"Hana Sakuragi,"  
  
"According to your files, you are a basketball player," Coach Anderson said, while looking at Hana's files. "And a squash player too,"  
  
"I am, but I'm more concentrated with basketball,"  
  
"According to this, your school defeated the reigning champions, that's very very good, and you played with the boys team," Coach Anderson said again, surprised a little bit that Hana played with the boys.  
  
"I do,"  
  
"Well, I do hope you are not disappointed that you'll be playing with the girls," the Coach said.  
  
"I expected it, in Japan, I'm one of the tallest girls in school, but here, I'm like a dwarf compared to the other players,"  
  
"That's true, okay, Sakuragi, I want to start the lesson," the Coach ended the talk and went into the gym with Hana.  
  
Vivian approached Hana when she went out from the office.  
  
"Coach always give pep talks to new students, how did it go?" Vivian asked.  
  
"Okay," Hana answered.  
  
"Girls! Warm up! And then, 50 laps all around the gym!" barked the coach.  
  
"Coach, you are cruel!" Vivian gasped.   
****  
The others are panting, but Hana remained running, she still had that extremely high stamina, and she's one of the first few who completed the 50 laps.  
  
"Still feel like running eh?" asked a black girl. She had been watching Hana run without tiredness, and concluded that Hana must have an extremely high stamina.  
  
"Yup, that's right," Hana answered. "Hana Sakuragi, I'm the new exchange student,"  
  
"Billie Hopkins, you seemed to be a good athlete, what sport do you play?"  
  
"Basketball,"  
  
"Really?" Billie asked excitedly. "I'm the captain of the basketball club,"  
  
"Aah, Sakuragi, you've met Hopkins, the captain of the club," Coach Anderson said after she saw them talking to each other.  
  
"Coach, do you think there's a vacancy in the club?" asked Billie. "We really need somebody who has a stamina like Sakuragi here,"  
  
"I thought my brother told me that the basketball teams here are the best in New York," Hana answered.  
  
"Who's your brother?" Billie asked.  
  
"Ryuen Sakuragi,"  
  
Billie's face lit up. "You mean, Ryu's your brother? Why didn't you tell me earlier?"  
  
"Why didn't I draw up that possibility when I saw your files?" asked Coach Anderson to herself.  
  
"You mean my brother's a basketball player here?" Hana asked curiously.  
  
"Why yes, he is, before he graduated, that is," Coach Anderson answered. "He was our star,"  
  
Hana tried to digest the information, she didn't know her brother played *that* well.   
  
'But he lost when I had a one-on-one with him a few weeks ago,' Hana thought.  
  
"So, do you want to join our club?" asked Billie excited.  
  
"Aah, I'll think about it first," Hana answered.  
  
"Okay, give me your answer in three days, okay?"  
  
Hana nodded.  
*****  
Hana and Vivian, who seemed to be following her around, because they have the same classes altogether.  
  
"And I can't believe Billie Hopkins, the girl's basketball team captain *talked* to you," Vivian said jealously when they are approaching the maths classroom. "Well, Hana, this is maths,"  
  
"But I need to go to the advance calculus class,"  
  
"I have advance calculus," said a voice behind them.  
  
"Billie!"   
  
"Hi!" Billie answered, next to her is Len, the guy who talked to Hana in English. "Hana, this is R.Len, one of our boys' basketball players, Len, this is Hana,"  
  
"We've met," Len answered.  
  
"Bye, Vivian, talk to you later," Hana said, and walked to advance calculus with Billie and Len.  
*******  
Back in Japan...  
Rukawa was lying down on his bed. New York and Japan are 2 continents apart, and not only that, they are 14 hours apart as well.   
  
"I kinda missed you, Hana," he said to the ceiling. "Do you miss me too?"  
*****  
Hana walked home. It's a relief to get rid of Vivian for a while, Vivian lives in Manhattan, and Hana lives in Upper East Side. It's quite far from each other, as Vivian had told her. By now, thanks to Vivian, Hana found out that Billie lives in Manhattan, while Len lives in Central Park West.   
  
"Where are you going?" asked the purple haired guy, or Len, as Hana had been told.  
  
"Home," Hana replied shortly.  
  
"This is going to Upper East Side, you live over there?"   
  
"Yup," Hana answered, while continued walking.  
  
"I don't think we've introduced each other formally," Len said. "I'm R.Len Xiao Tian Adam, call me Len,"  
  
Len took out his hand. Hana slapped it.  
  
"And Watashi Wa Sakuragi Hana, yoroshiku," Hana said in Japanese.  
  
"You think I don't speak Japanese?" Len asked in Japanese, surprising Hana. He laughed softly.  
"I've been taking lessons, Japanese fascinates me, walk you home?"  
  
"Arigatou," Hana answered.  
*****  
"Well, here's my apartment block, I live at the fourth floor," Hana said when they arrived at the apartment block. Hana nodded at the security, and proceeded towards the lift.  
  
"Well, bye, Len, see you tomorrow at school,"  
  
"Bye,"  
****  
Hana took her key out and entered the apartment.  
  
"Who's there?" asked a voice.  
  
"Onii-chan?" asked Hana.  
  
End of Chapter 5 - please read and review  
  
A/n: I'm leaving for Egypt tomorrow, dats why I posted two chapters at the same time. I'll be spending 10 days of holiday in Egypt, and even if I go online, I won't be posting any chapters. Gomen. 


	6. chapter 6

A Fling - Does It Mean A Thing?  
  
Disclaimer: Slam Dunk belongs to Inoue Takehiko. It doesn't belong to me at all, except probably the three Sakuragi siblings.  
Summary: Rukawa broke up with Hana because he didn't want her to be a distraction to his Japan Youth Camp. Set after Akagi, Mitsui and Kogure went to take their entrance exams, Miyagi became captain, and Rukawa's going to leave.  
A/n: Expect OOC  
  
Chapter 6  
"Sakuragi!" shouted the person when he saw her.  
  
"Sawakita Eiji! What are you doing here?" asked Hana hotly.  
  
"Sakuragi, this is my apartment! What are *you* doing here?" asked Eiji back.  
  
"I *live* here," Hana answered hotly.  
  
"What's all this noise?" asked Ryuen.  
  
"Onii-chan! What's this guy doing at our apartment?" asked Hana.  
  
"Hey, Eiji, when did you arrive?" Ryuen asked calmly. "Well, you've met my sister,"  
  
"This is your sister?" asked Eiji pointing at Hana.  
  
"Yup, Hana, this is Sawakita Eiji, my housemate, Eiji, this is my sister, Sakuragi Hana,"  
  
"We've met," both said coldly.  
  
"Oh yeah, you met during the Shohoku-Sannoh match in Inter High," Ryuen said, now remembering when Hana sprained her ankle.  
  
Hana, annoyed, strode off to her room, slammed the door, and dropped to the bed. Her eyes went to the Shohoku team's photograph, where Rukawa is hugging her shoulders, and while she and the rest of team smiles for the camera, Rukawa stay motionless, as usual. Hana traced her fingertip at Rukawa's face.  
  
"Why does he have to look like you?" she asked the still Rukawa in the picture. "It's not fair, you know, everywhere I go, I see him, and get constantly reminded of you,"  
  
A knock at the door brought Hana back to reality. She placed the framed photograph back at the nightstand and opened the door.  
  
"Onii-chan, what do you want to talk about?" Hana asked while Ryuen entered the room.  
  
"So, any attempt to forget Rukawa today?" Ryuen asked instead.  
  
"Well, I think little of him, not much, but there's this guy, he looks just like Kaede, I mean, Rukawa, he has purple hair though, and a friendly attitude. My new friend, Vivian, whom reminded me of Haruko a lot, said he's really popular, and plays basketball," Hana answered.  
  
"And onii-chan, why didn't you tell me that you are Kennedy High's ace player?" Hana continued. "They all lit up when I mentioned that Ryuen Sakuragi, or 'Ryu' to them is my brother,"  
  
Ryuen chuckled. "I don't want you to know, so, did you get into the girl's club?"  
  
"They give me three days to think about it,"  
  
"Join it, you'll get a lot of experience, these people are tough,"  
  
"I know,"  
  
Ryuen silently went out of the room, when Hana's drifting off into space. 'She's probably thinking of the purple dude,' he thought.  
*****  
Back in Japan...  
Shohoku High... (A/n: Japan and New York has a time difference of approx. 14 hours. So, I assume that this is afternoon in Kanagawa, on a different day)  
  
"Minna! I got an email from Hana-chan!" Haruko announced to everybody.  
  
"Really, Haruko?" asked Ayako.  
  
"Yup! Hana-chan's adapting to life over there, she found a new friend, of whom she said reminded her of me, her name is Vivian Kishi, a pure Japanese-American, and she said she met the girls' basketball club captain, and she's probably joining the basketball club," Haruko said cheerfully.  
  
"That's all?" Miyagi asked.  
  
"Yup, sempai," Haruko answered.   
  
"Oh yeah, Rukawa-kun, Hana met a cute guy at her new school," Haruko added. "His name is R.Len Xiao Tian Adam,"  
  
Everyone waited for Rukawa's response. Rukawa glanced at Haruko, and everyone could see the hurt in his eyes. Is it hurt or is it...? Whatever it is, it meant that Rukawa *cares* about Hana still.  
*****  
Rukawa cycled home after practice. He couldn't believe Hana met a new guy. He arrived home, just in time to have somebody pull him back. It's Sendoh.  
  
"You stupid, incorrigible bastard! How dare you break her heart?" Sendoh asked, and landed a punch on Rukawa's face. Sendoh continued to give Rukawa blows, but the latter didn't react.  
  
Sendoh stopped when Rukawa didn't react. "You still love her, don't you?"  
  
No response.  
  
"Why did you do that to her?" asked Sendoh. "Any guy crazy for her would *die* just to have Hana circle her arms around their shoulders or waist, any guy crazy for her would just love to have her around,"  
  
"She chose you instead of me, instead of the hundreds of male students who's crazy for her," Sendoh continued. "She gave you her affections, her love, her time, what more do you want?"  
  
"Nothing, I want nothing. That time, I think she's stalling me, and a distraction to my practice, and so, we broke up," Rukawa answered. "I think she forgot me already, Haruko said she met another guy,"  
  
"Rukawa, you love her! And she loves you!" Sendoh exasperatedly said. "Nobody could help to matchmake both of you up now, she's over there, you are over here. Save your love, save your relationship, if you love her that much,"  
******  
At New York...   
midnight...  
Hana woke up from her sleep. She dreamt that she's with Rukawa on a sandy beach, talking, and laughing. Holding hands as they walked together along the coastal shore, and just having fun. Slowly, Rukawa Kaede's face turned a little bit to R. Len Shigyo, but as they have the same nose, the same foxy eyes, the same mouth, the same face, the only different thing is their hair.   
  
"What does that mean?" Hana asked herself.  
  
Not knowing what to do, since she couldnt' fall back to sleep, Hana turned on the computer, and logged on to the net. She checked her mail. Haruko had replied her message.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Dear Hana-chan...  
Thank you for your email. I told your email to the rest of the team, and they told me to tell you that they are glad that you can adapt yourself there. I told Rukawa-kun about the new guy, and I don't know. When Rukawa-kun glanced at me after I said that, he seemed to be sad. Whatever it is, it's an emotion. Maybe he still loves you Hana-chan. The team can't wait for you to return home. Miyagi-sempai said he couldn't wait for his swift-steal princess to return to the court. Rukawa-kun's leaving for camp tomorrow, and he'll be back just in time for the Winter Championships as well. We all miss you here.   
Haruko-chan  
~~~~~~~~~~~~  
"Does he really miss me?" Hana asked herself.  
*****  
The next day, at school...  
Hana found out that she has the same classes with Billie in Advance Calculus and Chemistry.  
  
"Hana, need a lab partner?" asked Billie.  
  
"Yup, today's my first chemistry day," Hana answered.  
  
"Sit here, there's only Len and I at this bench," Billie offered.  
  
"Thanks,"  
  
"By the way, what do you think of joining the club?"  
  
"My brother gave me the consent already, I'll be joining the club today,"  
  
"Good!"  
  
"What's good?" asked Len.  
  
"Hana just accepted my offer to play basketball for the girl's club," Billie said excitedly. "Be at the basketball gym at 3.30 pm,"  
  
"Okay,"  
*****  
Japan...  
It's night, and Kaede had already started packing up for his journey to the Japan Youth Basketball Camp in Yokohama.   
  
"You could have the maid do that for you, you know?" asked someone entering his room.  
  
"Aniki, why are you still up?" asked Kaede.   
  
Rukawa Taka watched as his brother packed his stuffs. He strode over to the nighstand, where a framed photograph of a smiling Hana stands.  
  
"Are you going to bring this as well?" asked Taka, holding up the frame. He oh so accidentally dropped it off.  
  
"Aniki, what do you think you are doing?" asked Kaede, after he managed to save the framed photograph from crashing down to the floor.  
  
"You still love her," Taka stated. "Don't deny it,"  
  
"What's done is done, she got another guy now, there's no use of me fighting to get her back," Kaede answered.  
  
"Kaede! You fought *Sendoh*, you fought everyone who tried to get her attention when both of you were couples, even if *some* of them are just her friends, and now, when both of you broke up, and you want her back, you just let it go," Taka exasperatedly said.  
  
"Sendoh said the same thing, aniki," Kaede answered. "There's no use anymore,"  
  
End of chapter 6  
A/n: Okay, do you want Kaede to try and get her back, or not? He's hurting too, you know.... 


	7. chapter 7

A Fling - Does It Mean A Thing?  
  
Disclaimer: Slam Dunk belongs to Inoue Takehiko. It doesn't belong to me at all, except probably the three Sakuragi siblings.  
Summary: Rukawa broke up with Hana because he didn't want her to be a distraction to his Japan Youth Camp. Set after Akagi, Mitsui and Kogure went to take their entrance exams, Miyagi became captain, and Rukawa's going to leave.  
A/n: Expect OOC  
  
Chapter 7  
New York...  
"Hana!" somebody shouted.  
  
"Vivian, what are you doing after school?" asked Hana.   
  
"I'm in the school chess club, I'm going to play some chess," Vivian answered. "What about you?"  
  
"I joined the basketball club, wanna watch me play?"  
  
"No, it's okay, I don't understand a thing about basketball anyway,"  
****  
"Okay team, we've got a new member," announced Coach Anderson.  
  
"Hi, I'm Hana Sakuragi, I'm the new exchange student. My position is point guard," Hana introduced herself.  
  
"Why not try your skills on me?" asked a white girl. "Kerry Davidson, I'm a point guard as well,"  
  
"Okay,"  
  
"Coach, one-on-one, me against Sakuragi," Kerry said.  
  
Coach Anderson nodded. The game begins.  
  
"What are the rules?"  
  
"The first person who gets six points win,"  
  
"Okay," Hana answered.  
  
Kerry began the first attack. Using her swift steal, Hana stole the ball, with just one stroke of her hand, and made a shot. It went in.  
  
"Darn it!" Kerry muttered. It's her time to defend. Hana made a fake. Kerry fell for it. Hana went backwards.  
  
"She's going for three points," Billie said to the rest of the team. "It went in, five points to Hana,"  
  
But Kerry made a shot, making it 5-2. But Hana made another shot, after that. Thus winning the one-on-one.  
  
"Okay, you are good, I admit it now," Kerry said after she lost.  
  
"It's obvious that you play as good as Ryu. The only difference is that, Ryuen plays center and power forward," Billie said.  
  
"But remember, captain, my brother and I are two different people," Hana reminded Billie. Billie smiled at that.  
  
Even though it is shown that Hana is better than Kerry. Kerry is still one of the regular members, since Hana's just going to stay in the team for 2 to three months.  
  
Hana got to know the other members of the team. The regular members, Kerry, of whom she just met, Billie, the captain, who played centre (not surprisingly, as she's very tall for a girl, taller than Hana), Sarah, the vice-captain, of whom Hana found out is a shooting guard, Maria, a black power forward, as tall as Billie, and Tina, a small forward, of whom reminded Hana a little bit of Rukawa. Hana also said 'hi' to the benchwarmers, Katie, Judy, Julia, Hope, Anna, Jessie, Sandy, Crystal, Honey, Farra, Angel, and Vanessa.   
  
"I thought, my brother told me the basketball club is very big," Hana voiced out her surprise when there's only 11 extra members.  
  
Billie smiled. "Actually there are more than 16 of us. The actual number of players who *actually* play in a game is 30, but the club took 40 members. So, as you may have guessed, we have 24 cheerleaders for the team,"  
  
"Good for support,"  
  
"Right,"  
  
"Okay everyone, team practice!"  
  
"Katie, Billie, Hana, Tina and Hope in Team A, Sarah, Vanessa, Anna, Kerry, and Jessie in Team B, the others do 70 push-ups!"  
********  
The first basketball game in America proved very hard for Hana. Billie and Vannesa do the jump. Billie got the ball first, and swished to Hana, who passed to Tina, who then passed to Hope and Hope did a three-point shot. It went in.  
  
"Nice shot, Hope!" Billie praised.  
  
"Well, it's due to Hana and Tina's passes," Hope admitted.  
  
"Okay, guys, we'll get the next point," Kerry said to her teammates. She dribbled the ball slowly, and then, gradually changed her phase. Kerry tried to elude Hana, who's guarding her man-to-man. But during one of the tries, Hana stole the ball.and dribbled it to the offence area, Kerry ran after her.  
  
Hana passed to Billie, who made a jump shot. It's 5-0. Team A - 5, Team B - 0.  
***  
At the bench...  
"What do you think of Hana so far, Honey?" asked Coach Anderson. "You are a point guard too,"  
  
The blond, Honey Cooper, watched Hana's play.  
  
"She played recklessly, yet, very good. I think she's better than Kerry. Look at how many times Kerry had fell for her fakes," Honey commented.  
  
"Think you could challenge her?" asked Coach Anderson. "She defeated Kerry in their one-on-one just now,"  
  
Honey smiled, "Maybe, maybe not,"  
******  
Only Taka, Miyagi, Mitsui, Akagi, Kogure, Ayako, and Sendoh sent Kaede off.  
  
"I know you don't expect us to be here, but good luck at the camp," Ayako said.   
  
"Although what you did to Hana is quite unforgivable, but you are still our teammate, and so, good luck," Miyagi said.  
  
"Take care of father, aniki," Kaede said before going to the departure hall. Taka nodded.  
  
"Your father didn't want to send Rukawa off?" asked Ayako, when Miyagi and the others are well away from earshot.  
  
"He's always busy with work, he just never had any time with Kaede. It's only when I came back from Hokkaido to live with them, that Kaede started to open up about his feelings," Taka explained.  
  
"That explains his stoic behaviour," Ayako confirmed.  
  
"Took me nearly 4 years to get him talking to me," Taka said, chuckling.  
*****  
New York...  
Hana had just got a reply from Haruko.  
~~~~~  
Dear Hana-chan...  
Rukawa-kun went to the camp today. Only Miyagi-sempai, Mitsui-sempai, Ayako-sempai, onii-chan, and Kogure-sempai went to see him off. I heard from Ayako-sempai that Rukawa-kun's aniki, and Sendoh also saw him off. I've no idea why Sendoh actually want to send him off. We in Shohoku miss you a lot. Please come back soon.  
Haruko-chan  
~~~~~  
Hana smiled while reading the email. The whole of Shohoku team miss her a lot.   
*****  
Kennedy High....  
Basketball practice...  
Hana played against Honey Cooper, the other point guard in the team. Hana's team was down by a point when Billie pointed out, "Len and his team is looking at us,"   
  
Hana saw the boys' team hanging around the gym, watching the game. The boys has separate gym to practice, but their presence gave Hana the encouragement to play better.  
  
It's Hana's team offence, Hana dribbled the ball, passed it to Billie, who passed it back to Hana, whom Billie saw is just behind the three point line. Hana jumped to shoot. It went in!  
  
Kerry, acting as the referee, whistled, ending the game. "Team A won 56-54,"   
  
"Good play, Hana!" Billie praised.  
  
"Thank you,"  
  
"Ok, girls! End of practice, and Hana, meet Coach Troussier," shouted Coach Anderson.  
  
"Hello, coach," Hana greeted.  
  
"You are Coach Anderson's new find, eh?" asked the plump coach that reminded Hana a little bit of the 'white haired devil'. "I'm Coach Thierry Troussier,"  
  
"I'm Hana Sakuragi,"  
  
"I heard from Coach Anderson that you played in the boys' team in your home country,"   
  
"That's right,"  
  
"It must be quite a challenge, playing with boys,"  
  
"Indeed, it is, but there's the fun in it as well. Nice to meet you, coach,"  
  
"Nice to meet you as well, Sakuragi,"  
  
Hana joined Billie and the others towards the showers.  
  
"She's quite good," Coach Troussier commented.  
  
"And she plays like a boy," Coach Anderson replied. "Not surprising, though,"  
  
"Yeah, if she is taller, I'd probably take her in,"  
  
"Even if you want to take her now, I'm not giving her to you," Coach Anderson answered. "She's one of the good point guard, whose raw, and yet smooth skill that I want to polish up,"  
****  
"Hana!" shouted Len.  
  
"Oh, hey, Len," Hana greeted.  
  
"Want me to walk you home?" Len asked. Hana nodded.  
  
"Bye, Billie! Kerry! Honey!" Hana shouted. Billie and Kerry waved at her, while Honey scowled.  
****  
"I've been after R.Len for ages!" Honey scowled. "And everyday he walks Sakuragi home!"  
  
"I think Len and Hana are suited for each other," Kerry said, chuckling.  
  
"What? Are you insane? I *like* Len!" Honey replied.  
*****  
At Hana's apartment door...  
  
"Hana..."  
  
"Yes, Len?"  
  
"Are you free on Saturday night?" Len asked. "There's a good movie showing at the cineplex,"  
  
"Yup, I'm free,"  
  
"Do you want to go to the cineplex with me?" Len asked.  
  
"Sure,"  
  
"Great! I'll pick you up at eight!" Len said brightly.  
  
"Well, bye,"  
  
"Bye,"   
  
Hana opened the door and stepped inside. Her heart is thumping wildly. A DATE! With LEN!!!!! She went to her room, and again, her eyes fell at the motionless, smile-less face of Rukawa Kaede, hugging her close.  
  
She went straight to the framed photograph, and pulled it close.   
  
"Why? Why do you hurt me like this, Kaede?" Hana said to the picture, tracing Rukawa's face with her fingertips. "I found another guy to like, but he constantly remind myself of you,"  
  
End of chapter 7 - please read and review 


	8. chapter 8

A Fling - Does It Mean A Thing?  
  
Thank you to all the reviewers! Thank you sooooo much!!!!! To Nikkie, Ryu had been in America since he's around 15 (read What If? Chapter 13), and spent his entire time in New York, while only returning for a few weeks to Japan each year. Let's just assume that he learned his skills and with hard work and determination, he's able to defeat any of them. While, Hana, had only defeated Kerry, and not the others, who are obviously better than her.  
  
Disclaimer: Slam Dunk belongs to Inoue Takehiko. It doesn't belong to me at all, except probably the three Sakuragi siblings.  
Summary: Rukawa broke up with Hana because he didn't want her to be a distraction to his Japan Youth Camp. Set after Akagi, Mitsui and Kogure went to take their entrance exams, Miyagi became captain, and Rukawa's going to leave.  
A/n: Expect OOC  
  
Chapter 8  
Japan...  
Rukawa looked at his surroundings. He's in his dormroom at the youth camp. His eyes fell to his right, where a framed photograph of a smiling Hana is placed. He picked it up.  
  
"I missed you a lot, you know..." he whispered to the picture. "Do you miss me too?"  
  
"RUKAWA KAEDE! GET YOUR ARSE DOWN HERE FOR PRACTICE!" shouted the coach.  
  
Rukawa sleepily went down to the gym area. Morohoshi Dai, Kiyota Nobunaga, Morishige Hiroshe, and others are snickering at him.  
  
"Sorry, coach, I overslept," Rukawa answered.  
  
"Rukawa, missed Hana?" Kiyota teasingly asked. He was replied with a very cold look.  
  
"Oh, you do miss her then," Morohoshi teasingly said. And again, a blast of cold ice came towards Morohoshi.  
  
"Gomen," both of them said to Rukawa.  
  
The team practiced running for the day. This reminded Rukawa of the sprints that Hana used to do before practices. She'd usually run around the gym before practice starts, and then, rest for a while before practicing her shots.   
  
As usual, Rukawa remained his cold personality along the day.   
  
During one of their rests...  
"I heard that Hana went to the States," Kiyota said.  
  
Rukawa nodded.  
  
"I also heard a rumor from Hikoichi that you broke up with her," Kiyota said again.  
  
And again, Rukawa nodded.  
  
"Have you no shame? What did she do to hurt you?" asked Kiyota, who *tried* to say it quietly.   
  
"She didn't do anything, I just want no distraction to this camp," Rukawa answered.  
  
"Mark my words, you'll play your worst during your time here, coz, you'll miss her support," Kiyota replied.  
*****  
New York...  
"What should I wear? What should I wear?" Hana asked herself. It's Saturday evening, and she's ecstatic about the date. Len will arrive a few minutes later. Her eyes fell towards the white shirt that she and Rukawa bought at Takashimaya, before the split. And of course, the Tommy Hilfiger jeans she just bought at one of the malls a few days ago.  
  
"This looks great," she said to herself. She put both of them on, and brushed back her red hair, where the end of her hair is just touching the end of her neck. (She cut it up after leaving Japan).  
And then, she applied minimum make-up, natural colour lipstick, which blend with her natural lip colour, and powdered her face. She then sprayed her favourite perfume, Paco Rabanne's 'UltraViolet', to her neck, wrists and elbows. She then took out her small bag to carry her purse and her Nokia mobile phone.  
  
She went out from her room to drink a glass of water.  
  
"You look gorgeous, got a date tonight?" asked Ryuen.  
  
"Yup, with Len," Hana answered.  
  
"Really?" asked Ryuen. 'This is good,'  
  
"Uhuh,"  
  
Eiji's just going to the kitchen when he saw Hana. His mouth fell open, he had never seen her in any other clothing except basketball jerseys and school uniforms. Hana's clothes, while not exactly revealing, but showed her curves.  
  
"Close your mouth, Eiji, or a fly will enter it," Ryuen said teasingly. Eiji promptly set his mouth shut.  
  
The doorbell chime can be heard after that.  
  
"That must be Len," Hana said, and went towards the door, and opened it. Len's outside, holding a bouquet of red roses.  
  
"For you," he said flirtingly.  
  
"Thank you, c'mon in, let me put this in a vase first," Hana answered.  
  
"Hey Ryu, hey Eiji," he greeted both Eiji and Ryuen.  
  
"Hi Len," they both answered simultaneously.  
  
"You know each other?" Hana asked.  
  
"I'm a freshman when Ryu played for Kennedy. And then, I knew of Eiji when he entered New York Metropolitan University," Len explained.  
  
Hana placed the roses into a vase filled with water. "All done,"  
  
"The movie's going to start at eight-thirty, I guess we'd better be going," Len said.   
  
"Okay, bye onii-chan, bye Sawakita," Hana said.  
  
"Bye," they replied.  
****  
At the ground floor...  
  
"Wow! That's your car?" asked Hana, eyeing the black BMW convertible with interest.  
  
"Yeah," Len answered, proud of his car. "I don't usually use it to school because I prefer to cycle, rollerblade, or walk. I like the latter nowadays, though,"  
  
"Why?"  
  
"So that I can walk you home,"  
  
Hana smiled blushingly when she heard that.  
*****  
In the car...  
"I heard you are just staying here for three months or two, right?" asked Len.  
  
"Yeah, the high schools winter championship in Japan is approaching, and I'll be back just in time for that," Hana answered.  
  
"Where in Japan did you come from?" Len asked.  
  
"The Kanagawa prefecture,"  
  
"Really? How was it like?"  
  
"Very nice, it's quite a big place, but not as big as Tokyo or Osaka. It's quite quiet too. I went to Shohoku, which, actually, did not have a good basketball team, but I entered it because it's near my house,"  
  
"But I thought you guys defeated the champions..."  
  
"Well, Shohoku should have won the Kanagawa District Championships the year before if not because their skilled point guard and shooting guard are both in the hospital for medication. They lost during the first round of elimination," Hana explained.  
  
"What about you, Len, did you originally come from New York city?" Hana asked. "It's okay if you don't want to talk about family,"  
  
"It's okay, it's just me and my mom since I'm a toddler," Len answered.  
  
"What movie are we going to watch?" asked Hana, diverting the topic.  
  
"Rat Race, I heard it's pretty funny," Len answered.  
  
They arrived at the cineplex after a while...  
*****  
They entered the cineplex and Len showed their tickets to the usher, who ushered them to the balcony seats that Len booked.  
  
The movie is indeed funny. Hana and Len laughed out so loud that the other people were glaring at them.  
****  
After the movie ended...  
"Do you want to eat?" Len asked.  
  
"Hmm, okay, if there's any cafe that's still open," Hana answered.  
  
"This is New York City. It never sleeps, Hana," Len replied. Len brought Hana to one of the cafes in Greenwich Village.  
  
They talked about their life, with Len asking a lot about Japan.   
  
But of course, the date must come to an end.  
  
"Well, it's nice going out with you," Hana said, when they reached her front door.  
  
"Yeah, same here," Len answered. "Hana..."  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Can I kiss you?" Len asked.  
  
Hana nodded. Len smiled brightly and pulled Hana towards him. His mouth swooped over Hana's, and kissed them sweetly, and then, deeply. Len placed his hands in her hair while Hana wrapped her hands around his neck.  
  
They stopped after a few minutes.   
  
"Well, I'd better get inside," Hana said. Len nodded.  
  
"Bye," she whispered, and inserted the key to the lock. Len only leaves after she closed the door.  
  
"You look as if you've just been kissed," drawled Ryuen, eyeing his sister's swollen lips. Hana nodded.  
  
"So, any similarities with Rukawa? they do look the same,"  
  
"No, he's sweeter. and yes, he doesn't want to talk about his family," Hana answered. "Good night, Onii-chan, I need my beauty sleep,"  
  
"Night,"  
  
End of Chapter 8 - please read and review... 


	9. chapter 9

A Fling - Does It Mean A Thing?  
  
Disclaimer: Slam Dunk belongs to Inoue Takehiko. It doesn't belong to me at all, except probably the three Sakuragi siblings.  
Summary: Rukawa broke up with Hana because he didn't want her to be a distraction to his Japan Youth Camp. Set after Akagi, Mitsui and Kogure went to take their entrance exams, Miyagi became captain, and Rukawa's going to leave.  
A/n: Expect OOC  
  
Chapter 9  
New York...  
Hana sat down on the bed, instead of falling asleep. Len *kissed* her, and she kissed him back.   
  
"Do I feel anything?" she asked herself. Reminded of the hot full-on snog, she answered herself, "yeah, I do,"  
  
"So now, what should I do?" she asked herself. "What would you do?" she asked the smiling photograph of Haruko, taken with her just before she left Japan.  
  
She went straight to her pc, and logged on to the net. Not bothering to read Haruko's email, she composed a new email to Haruko.  
~~~`  
Dear Haruko-chan...  
The guy that I told you about, Len, *kissed* me after our date ended! It felt soooo hot that its sizzling. There's just one catch though, I still couldn't forget Rukawa. I know I sound like I already do, but in reality, actually, I don't. I still look at his picture and say, 'why does he has to look just like you?' I don't know what to do, Haruko-chan!!!!! Can you please tell my problem to Ayako-sempai (WITHOUT ANYONE HEARING ABOUT IT), if you couldn't think about it.  
Hana-chan  
P.S. : I missed Shohoku too, don't worry, I'll be back in two or three months.  
~~~~~~  
Hana breathed a sigh of relief after that.  
****  
School...  
English class...  
"Hana, there's an Utada Hikaru concert in the Japanese embassy, do you want to go with me?" asked Vivian. "My uncle who works at the organising company gave me two free tickets,"  
  
"Umm, I don't know, I don't really like Utada Hikaru that much, but I do missed listening to J-Pop though," answered Hana.  
  
"So, can you go with me?" asked Vivian again.  
  
"When is that?" Hana replied.  
  
"Friday Night, at the Japanese embassy. I don't want to go alone,"  
  
"You mean, this week's friday night?"  
  
Vivian nodded.  
  
"Sorry, Vivian, I couldn't, I've got something to do with my brother that night, thanks for the invitation anyway," Hana answered.  
****  
Chemistry class...  
"Hana, there's an Utada Hikaru concert at the Japanese embassy, would you like to go with me?" asked Len.   
  
"I don't really like Utada Hikaru," Hana answered.  
  
"I want to listen to J-Pop, would you like to go with me?"  
  
"Sorry, I've something to do with my brother that night, thanks for the invitation," Hana answered.  
****  
Basketball practice...  
"Sakuragi!" shouted Honey.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Let's have a one-on-one,"   
  
"Sure," Hana answered.  
  
"The first to get six points win, if I win, you must not walk with Len or go out with him ever again," Honey said.  
  
"Is Len your boyfriend?" asked Hana. Honey shook her head.  
  
"Well, that means it's ok, even if you win, he's not attached to you," Hana answered. "But if I win, I could be with Len anytime I like, eh?"  
  
Honey gasped. "All right, let's have the match!"  
****  
Hana won against Honey with 6-2. Honey is fast, but Hana could see some flaws in her. 'No wonder Kerry's the regular point guard,' she thought.   
  
"It's harder during with Kerry, no wonder she's the regular point guard," Hana said, panting.  
  
"You are quite good as well, no wonder you beated Kerry," Honey answered. "Do you like R.Len?"  
  
Hana nodded.  
  
"I love him since I've met him, he's the cutest guy in middle school, but he went to a different school," Honey explained. "When I heard that he entered Kennedy, I was ecstatic, imagine, R.Len Xiao Tian Adam, the famous basketball player entering Kennedy! I told myself I am finally going to meet him and talk to him,"  
  
"But you didn't,"  
  
"R.Len is always surrounded with girls, particularly Billie, but now I know they are just best friends, but I just couldn't work up my courage to tell him so,"  
  
"He just never notice you, eh?"  
  
Honey nodded.  
  
"You are quite beautiful, Honey, why not find some other guy? I'm sure a lot of guys out there likes you," Hana said. "I like Len as well, he's a gentleman, and he's everything a girl could ever want,"  
  
"It's not easy if you've been in love with him for the past few years," Honey answered.  
  
"I once had this huge crush on a guy back home. I thought it's love. Finally, he noticed me, I was so ecstatic-" Hana started.  
  
"Who wouldn't?" asked Honey.  
  
"Until, we had a date, and I found out that he's boring. He may be cute, and made my interest in basketball sparked, but he's boring, and I found out that, I don't love him at all," Hana continued.  
  
"You are right, maybe the same thing might happen to me if R.Len noticed me, thanks Hana, for the advice," Honey answered.  
*****  
Home...  
"No date today?" asked Ryuen, when Hana entered alone.  
  
"Onii-chan, it's school night, what do you expect?" she asked.  
  
"Oh yeah, there's an Utada Hikaru concert at the Japanese embassy, on Friday night, and Eiji and I are going there with our respective dates," Len said.   
  
"Nani? But onii-chan..."  
  
"Go there with Len,"   
  
"But I just told Len that I couldn't go out with him because I've an errand to do with you!"  
  
"Call him up, and tell him that your brother had other plans, and so, you are taking up his offer now,"   
  
"And besides, I don't really like Utada Hikaru that much," Hana said.  
  
"Okay, then you can stay at home..."   
*****  
The night of the concert...  
Hana logged on to MSN. Haruko is online, and unfortunately, so do the kitsune...  
The first thing that Hana did was block him.  
~~~  
(A/n: I know how MSN looks like, but to make matters simpler, I'll just do it IRC-type)  
Hana-chan: Haruko-chan, how are you?  
Haruko: I'm fine, thanks, what about you?  
Hana-chan: same here, except in the inside.  
Haruko: Have you figured out about this Len guy?  
Hana-chan: I don't know, I like him though, but he looks like rukawa.  
Haruko: Hmm, you sure your affections towards him is not because he looks like rukawa.  
Hana-chan: That's it, I don't know, his hair is different though, and he's not as cold, he's quite warm and friendly.  
Haruko: Hana, do you know what time is it?  
Hana: Umm, 10 p.m. New York time...  
Haruko: Plus 14 hours, it's Japanese time...  
Hana: It's 1 p.m over there, right?  
Haruko: Right.... and since its a Saturday, I'm going to prepare lunch for the family.  
Hana: Okay, talk to you later, there's an Utada Hikaru concert here...  
Haruko: Utada Hikaru??????? Why aren't you going?  
Hana: I don't really like her that much. Well, ja ne.  
Haruko: Ja.  
~~~  
Just before Hana logged out, she unblocked Rukawa.  
****  
Hana picked up her mobile phone, and dialed Len's number.  
  
"Moshi moshi," said a guy's voice.  
  
"Len?"  
  
"Hana, where are you?"  
  
"Home, I'm bored! My brother decided to cancel the errand at the very last minute,"  
  
"I'll go there,"  
  
"Aren't you at the concert?"  
  
"I didn't go when you rejected my invitation, can I come to your house?"  
  
"Yeah, ok,"  
****  
A few minutes later...  
Hana opened the door for Len.  
"Sorry for disturbing you," Hana said.  
  
"It's okay, so, what do you want to do?"  
  
"I don't know, I was bored,"  
  
"Hana, do you know that I like you so much?" Len asked, and held Hana's hand. Hana gasped.  
  
"I like you too," Hana confessed. Len's face brightened. "But..." As instantly as his face brightened just now, it felled.  
  
"There's something I've to show you," Hana said and brought Len to her room.  
  
"Who is this? He looks JUST like ME!" Len exclaimed after he saw Rukawa's picture.  
  
"He's my ex-boyfriend, and yes, he looks just like you, except the hair and probably the eyes," Hana replied. "I like you very much, but I'm afraid that my affection for you is because I missed him too much. I don't want my affection to you is because of that. It's not fair for you,"  
  
"But Hana, I like you very much,"  
  
"Same here, Len, but..."  
  
"No buts. If I can prove that I'm very different from him, would you like to go out with me, and be my girlfriend?" Len asked.  
  
Hana was startled for a moment, but after that, nodded. "Prove to me that you are different,"  
  
"Okay,"  
****  
The male basketball team, led by Len, is starting their match to win the New York's Private School's Basketball Tournament. Today is their first match against Cranberry High.  
  
"Go for it, Len..." Hana said.   
  
"I'm going to! With you at my side, I'm going to win," Len replied. "You'll see how different I play after this,"  
  
Hana nodded. "Okay, I'll be supporting you at the audience,"  
******  
Hana watched intently as Len passed the ball to his teammates. He never scores, but his passes made everybody has an even score. Unlike her teammates, where everybody passes to Rukawa, Len passes to everybody, and seldom asked for a pass, unlike Rukawa.  
  
"Does he ever scores, Billie?" asked Hana. Billie was watching with her as well.  
  
"During second half, when nobody expects him to do so, he loves taking rebounds, as you can see,"  
  
Len had just gotten another rebound.  
  
"Yup, I could see that, he looks so happy when he got that rebound, but I thought he's one of the best players,"  
  
"Len only scores during second half, and when the team enters quarter finals, to make sure he gets to be in the top 5 players and qualify Kennedy for the finals,"  
  
'He showed me how different he is from Rukawa already, in more ways than one, his feelings, his attitude, his style of playing,' Hana thought. 'I should accept the proposal,'  
****  
"Congratulations for winning," Hana said to Len. Kennedy won 168-88.  
  
"Thanks,"  
  
"Len, you showed me just now, how different you are from Rukawa, and I've been doing a lot of thinking one of these days," Hana started.  
  
"Do you want to be my girlfriend?" asked Len.  
  
"And I noticed that, ever since I know you, I've started to forget Rukawa, little by little. And I've come to love you as well,"  
  
"Do you want to be my girlfriend?" Len repeated.  
  
"Ok," she answered.  
  
Len's eyes brightened, and held Hana close. "Oh Hana, do you know how many times I dreamt that you said that?"  
  
"You mean ok?"  
  
"No, aishiteru,"  
*****  
End of chapter 9 


	10. chapter 10

A Fling - Does It Mean A Thing?  
Thanks to all the reviewers who had so kindly reviewed. I'm taking my AS exam this Nov, and so, I'm gonna bury my head in studies. So, don't expect any updates till December, all right? Very very sorry, to ya all.  
Disclaimer: Slam Dunk belongs to Inoue Takehiko. It doesn't belong to me at all, except probably the three Sakuragi siblings.  
Summary: Rukawa broke up with Hana because he didn't want her to be a distraction to his Japan Youth Camp. Set after Akagi, Mitsui and Kogure went to take their entrance exams, Miyagi became captain, and Rukawa's going to leave. And before you read this, make sure that you read What If? first, k?  
A/n: Expect OOC  
  
Chapter 10 - A month later...  
"NO! NO! No! It couldn't have happened!!!" Rukawa screamed in his sleep.  
  
"Rukawa, wake up!" Kiyota hollered. "You got a bad dream?"  
  
Rukawa nodded. "I dreamed that Hana accepted another guy's proposal, and she's leaving me,"  
  
"Not surprising, you left her,"  
  
"But I love her! And you are right, I missed her too much to play seriously,"  
  
"Call her up, and say you love her,"  
  
"But I don't know her number..."  
  
"Ask Haruko, ask anybody!"  
  
"I don't know their emails,"  
  
"Darn! You don't know your own teammates' emails? Maki-sempai always made sure we know how to contact each other if there's any problem,"  
  
"I'll try and ask my brother, right now, I want to sleep,"  
  
"The coach asked me to wake you up, coach wants us to do a hundred metre sprint,"  
  
"Nani?"  
  
"Hai,"  
****  
New York...  
"Do you know that there's only a month left for me to stay here?" asked Hana. Len held Hana close.  
  
"I know, and do you know what day today is?"  
  
"Hmm, I don't know..." Hana lied.  
  
"It's our first month anniversary, and here's for you," Len said, handing Hana a small parcel.  
  
"What is this?" Hana asked.  
  
"Open it,"  
  
"Aaaah!!! How do you know that I am absolutely crazy about them?" asked Hana. Inside the parcel is an F4 cd - meteor rain and Vic Zhou's album.  
  
"Hmm, when you asked me to teach you mandarin," Len answered. "Wo ai ni, Hana,"  
  
"Wo ai ni, Len," Hana replied. "You have to, you know, unlike me, you know how to speak Japanese, Mandarin, Cantonese and English. I only know Japanese and English,"  
  
"Blame that to my mom, she doesn't want me to forget my Asian roots," Len answered.  
****  
Japan...  
Shohoku...  
Rukawa Taka went to Shohoku High on the request of his brother. It's afternoon, and so, he expects the basketball team to be at the gym already. The door is opened.  
  
"Taka-san, what brings you here?" asked Ayako.  
  
"Aniki asked me to ask any of you, Hana's number at the States. The poor boy finally confessed that he missed her too much, he's now the worst player in the youth camp," Taka answered.  
  
"Serves him right!" Haruko stated. "I have Hana's email, though, Taka-san,"   
  
"Can you give it to me?"  
  
Haruko shook her head. "Sorry, Taka-san, first, Hana didn't want anybody to have it, second, Hana has a boyfriend over there already!"   
  
"NANI???" Taka outraged.  
  
"I know, I'm really sorry, Taka-san, if Hana-chan didn't have a boyfriend at this instant, I'll help you matchmake both of them up again, but I just couldn't. Hana sounds very happy the last time I chatted with her," Haruko explained.  
  
Taka's face fell. "That's ok, I'll just tell Kaede that none of you know how to contact her. He sounds very sad,"  
  
The rest of the team pitied Rukawa Kaede now. But they just couldn't do anything. Hana's already with someone else.  
*****  
A week later...  
"Baby, won't you come and ease my pain?" sang Len to Hana.  
  
"I will ease your pain, Len," Hana answered laughingly. As soon as Hana laughed, Len stole the ball and dribbled towards the net.  
  
"Hey no fair!" Hana said after Len scored. "You sang to get me distracted, R.Len Xiao Tian Adam,"   
  
"Sorry, so, I won, 10-5," Len answered. "C'mon, let's have a drink,"  
  
"Len..."  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"I've always wanted to know what R in your name stands for," Hana started.  
  
"Actually it's my Japanese family name, my dad's side of the family is Japanese,"  
  
"Nani?"  
  
"Yup, but since mother got the custody for me, I decided to let it be R, and use my mother's maiden name, Adam,"  
  
"What bout Xiao Tian, it's a Chinese name not Japanese,"   
  
"Mom's American-Chinese, her great-great-great grandmother in HongKong married an Englishmen who eventually migrated here,"  
  
Hana nodded in understanding. She leaned on Len's shoulders, feeling safe. She may not love Len as she had loved Kaede a month ago, but Len gave her a sense of security and comfort that made her like him more.  
  
Liu Xing Yiu tune is heard, and it woke her up from her dream.  
  
"Your mobile phone's ringing," Len said. Hana picked it up.  
  
"Moshi moshi, oh, onii-chan," Hana spoke.  
  
"Hana, come home now, we need to discuss something," Ryuen said in the phone. "It's urgent,"  
  
"Hello, Hello?" asked Hana to the phone. "Darn, he hung up,"  
  
"Why? Ryu asked you to go home?"  
  
"Uhuh,"  
  
"Okay, let me walk you home,"  
  
"Thanks," Hana smiled. Len held her hand and together, they walked towards Hana's apartment.  
****  
At Hana's apartment...  
"Sorry for being a little bit late, onii-chan," Hana apologized when they entered the apartment.  
  
"Yes, Ryu, very very sorry," Len backed up Hana.  
  
"It's ok, Len, I just need to talk about private matters with Hana," Ryuen answered.  
  
"Ok, see you tomorrow at school, Hana," Len said to Hana and kissed Hana's forehead.  
  
"See you tomorrow, Len," Hana said before shutting the door.  
  
"What do you want to talk about, onii-chan?"  
  
"Dad just faxed me, we have to be in Japan in four days time, aniki is hospitalised," Ryuen answered.  
  
"Nani? What happened to Kei-nii-chan?" asked Hana.  
  
"I don't know, dad didn't want to tell me, and anyway, the Shohoku team wanted to you be back as well, Miyagi Ryota injured his leg, he's now on crutches," Ryuen continued.  
  
"Nani?"  
  
"I know, it's sudden, but we've to be back in four days' time, better start packing up, Hana," Ryuen said.  
****  
School...  
  
"Hey, Hana, why so blue?" asked Billie.  
  
"Billie, I've just been summoned by my dad to go home to Japan," Hana answered.   
  
"What? But Hana, we need you for the upcoming game!" Billie exclaimed.  
  
"My other brother's hospitalized, and my old school in Japan requested me to come home as well, because the captain injured his leg," Hana explained.  
  
"But that isn't fair, you still have a month to stay here," Billie outraged.  
  
"I know, but I've to return to Japan," Hana replied.  
  
"What?" asked Len. "Am I hearing things?"  
  
"No, Len, it's true, I've to return," Hana answered, and hugged Len.  
  
"But why?" Len asked.  
  
"A family matter and the old school wants her back," Billie answered for Hana.  
  
"But that's not fair, Hana, we still have a month more," Len said.  
  
"I know, I must return in four days' time," Hana answered. "Today's my last basketball practice,"  
  
"Come tomorrow," Billie replied. Hana nodded.  
*****  
Len walked with Hana to the girls' basketball court...  
  
"It's sad that you have to return," Len started.  
  
"I know,"  
  
"So now, now that you are going, what about us?" Len asked.  
  
"Well, that depends on you, if you still want us to be together, I'd want that, but, if you can't stand long distance relationship, I understand that," Hana answered.  
  
"I don't know, Hana, I'd love a long-distance relationship, but I couldn't stand it," Len replied.  
  
"So that's it, then, Len," Hana said, and walked a distance.  
  
"But Hana, I love you!" Len shouted.   
  
Hana whirled around and ran towards Len who opened his arms. He held her close, while she cried.  
  
"I love you too, Len, but..." Hana said. Tears are already falling off her face.   
  
"We just couldn't be together because of distance," Len continued, "Or..."  
  
"Both of us will end up getting hurt in a way or another," Hana continued his sentence. Len nodded.  
  
"So it's better if both of us become friends once more," Len said. Hana nodded.  
  
End of chapter 10 - pls read and review 


	11. chapter 11 wait for the sequel

A Fling - Does It Mean A Thing?  
Thank you to all my reviewers!!! I was about to upload this after my exam, but it seemed that I finished the chapter before it! The sequel will be out by December at least. Hope you enjoy the chapter!!!  
  
Disclaimer: Slam Dunk belongs to Inoue Takehiko. It doesn't belong to me at all, except probably the three Sakuragi siblings, and the Kennedy High's basketball placers.  
Summary: Rukawa broke up with Hana because he didn't want her to be a distraction to his Japan Youth Camp. Set after Akagi, Mitsui and Kogure went to take their entrance exams, Miyagi became captain, and Rukawa's going to leave.  
A/n: Expect OOC  
  
chapter 11  
Rukawa packed his bags already. Ever since he received the news that Miyagi's injured, he'd been ordered to pack up and leave for Shohoku. Kiyota watched as the pale boy packed his stuff.  
  
"You are returning to Shohoku, eh?" asked Kiyota.  
  
Rukawa nodded.  
  
"Well, goodbye, then," Kiyota replied. "Want anyone to send you to the train station?"  
  
Rukawa shook his head, signalling, no.  
******  
"Bon Voyage" and "GoodBye Hana Sakuragi!" sign is placed at the gym.   
  
The girls' and the guys' basketball team are having a farewell party for Hana. Coach Anderson and Coach Troussier watched as their teams laughed happily with Hana. Even though they were reluctant to let the girl leave, they have to. Her home country comes first.  
  
"I'd like to thank both basketball teams for making my stay here memorable, and to Len, thanks for everything, to Vivian, even though we don't usually hang out, you are my first friend. To Billie, you helped me a lot as well, thanks for that," Hana started her speech. "To Honey and Kerry, thanks for giving me some lessons well learned, about point guarding, and I will miss our occasional one-on-ones,"  
  
"Thank you for accepting me into the team and give me a lot of experience, coach Anderson, and to all others, thank you,"  
******  
That night, after the party...  
"Hana, meet me outside your apartment," Len whispered. Hana nodded.  
  
"Len wanna see you tonight?" asked Ryu. Hana nodded.  
*****  
At the door...  
"Yesterday, I bought two Dry Cell tickets for us to watch. I heard that it's a pretty good band," Len said.  
  
How do you know that I kinda like rock?" asked Hana.  
  
"I just... well, guessed. But, unfortunately, you couldn't be there with me," Len murmured.  
  
"I'm sorry," Hana apologised.   
  
"No, it's okay," Len said. And they said their goodbyes again.  
******   
At the airport...  
"We'll definitely miss you," Billie said for the rest of them.  
  
"I'll miss our one-on-one," Kerry said. "Now I only have Honey to compete against,"   
  
"I'll prove to you that I'm a tough competitor, Kerry," Honey retaliated.  
  
"I'll miss all of you as well, especially the three of you," Hana said, and hugged the three girls, Billie, Honey and Kerry.  
  
"I'll miss you very very much," Len said. Hana and Len hugged.  
  
"Sumimasen," Hana whispered to him.  
  
"Gomennasai," Len whispered back.  
  
"What are they saying?" asked Kerry.  
  
Vivian answered, "They are both saying sorry to each other,"  
  
"Both are different words," Honey replied, apparently confused.  
  
"It both means 'I'm sorry' or I apologise," Vivian stated.  
  
"Goodbye, Vivian," Hana said. "You are my first friend, I'm thankful for that,"  
  
Vivian nodded.  
  
"Keep in touch, ok?" asked Honey. Hana nodded.  
  
"Everyone has my email address, right?" Hana asked. Everyone nodded. "Email me when you guys missed me,"  
  
"Ok," they chirped.  
  
"Calling for first class passengers, and PPS club members for Flight SQ212 to Tokyo, Japan,"   
  
"Well, Hana and I have to go now," Ryuen said. Mr. Sakuragi had booked two first class Singapore Airlines tickets for the flight to Japan. After what had happened to the American Airlines, Mr. Sakuragi had taken the precaution to use Asian-based airlines instead.  
  
"Goodbye, Hana!" they all chirped.  
  
"Goodbye!"  
  
"Here's for you," Len said, and thrust a package to Hana's hands.  
  
"Thank you, whatever it is," Hana answered.  
****  
On the plane...  
Hana opened the package that Len had given her at the very last minute. She opened it, and gasped. Ryuen turned to look at it.  
  
"He must have love you very much," Ryuen noted.  
  
Len had given her a Vic Zhou single - Make A Wish. He had written something inside...  
"Hana, I've always wanted to make a wish, the wish is to stay with you, now, and forever. I love you. Let us make a wish, Hana, love Len"  
  
"So romantic," Ryuen said. "Too bad you won't know what the lyrics mean, except 'make a wish ,make a wish,'"  
  
"Onii-chan, I could find its translation on the net," Hana said, and tsked tsked. A tear fell to her face.  
  
"Did you break up with him?"  
  
"Yes, both of us thought that its for the best," Hana answered.  
*****  
Hospital...  
"Dad, why do you need to call Hana and Ryu home, I'm fine, really!" Keisuke muttered. One measly accident during badminton practice and both his parents decided to call the other Sakuragis home, it's as if it's a chronic injury.  
  
"Kei-nii-chan, how are you?" asked Hana.  
  
"I'm fine, Hana, what about you?" Keisuke asked. Hana stood still.  
  
"I'm fine, Kei-nii-chan, its just a heartache," Hana answered.   
  
"Someone broke your heart again over there?"   
  
Hana shook her head. "No, it's a mutual breaking up,"  
****  
School...  
"Minna! I'm BACK!" Hana shouted to the class.  
  
"Sakuragi!" shouted the other classmates. "Welcome home,"  
  
"Youhei!" she shouted and hugged her best friend.  
  
"Good to have you back," Youhei answered her.  
  
"Nobody sat at your seat for the whole month," Youhei told her. "Rukawa did a couple of times when he went back, though,"  
  
Hana sat at her usual seat.   
  
"So, how was life at the States?"  
  
"Wonderful, the basketball teams are great, my brother's spoiling me over there, I didn't get involved at street fights, thank goodness, just plain wonderful," Hana answered.  
  
"Got any guy?" whispered Youhei. Hana nodded, sadly.  
  
"You don't seem to be happy bout that," whispered Youhei again.  
  
"We broke up, it's for the best, he wanted long distance, but I don't want him to suffer because of it," Hana explained.  
  
"Hana," called somebody.  
  
"Rukawa," she replied.  
  
"Let's talk at the roof," he said.  
  
Hana nodded curtly.  
****  
At the roof...  
Rukawa watched the scenery down there, while Hana watched the sky.  
"Welcome home," Rukawa said.  
  
"Thank you,"  
  
"Hana..."  
  
"You don't deserve to call me that anymore," Hana replied.  
  
"Ok, Sakuragi, then... I still love you,"  
  
"Rukawa, you left me, you broke my heart, but when another person comes and mended it, you want me back?" Hana asked.  
  
"My dream is true then," Rukawa said to himself.  
  
"What dream?" asked Hana.  
  
"I dreamt that you left me and love somebody else," Rukawa answered, and watched Hana's face.   
  
"Nani?"  
  
"Yes, I dreamt of that, every night at the youth camp. I'm pronounced the worst player, because I just couldn't concentrate in the game. All I ever think about is you," Rukawa answered. "I want you back,"  
  
"I did fell in love with somebody else. It may not be as hot as our love, but he gave me a sense of comfort that I didn't receive from you, he's very charming, I like him a lot. He somehow helped me to forget you and remind myself, there's lots of guys out there," Hana said.  
  
"When I was called back, both of us didn't want to part, but fate made us to separate. Neither of us can bear long distance relationship, although he wants it, I don't want to burden him with it," Hana continued. "I still feel some pain about the break up now, if you want to mend it, give me time,"  
  
She left after saying that. Rukawa stood dumbfounded. He shouldn't have dumped her at the first place.  
*****  
New York...  
"Mom, mom!" Len said. He entered the silent apartment.  
  
"Master Len, Ms. Adam had just been sent to the hospital!" the white housekeeper informed, her eyes bowed down, sadness creeping up on her.  
  
"What happened, Rosie?" asked Len.  
  
"I don't know, Master Len, it's happened so fast," Rosie answered. "I think you should go to the hospital, now, Master Len,"  
*****  
In a blind rage, Len went down the apartment, and drove his car recklessly to the hospital.  
~~~~Owari~~~~  
Be sure to read the sequel - ' A love within Three Hearts' coming soon on FF.net 


End file.
